Episodes

Hale Hentges

A pro football player who made his NFL debut last year as a tight end for the 2019 Washington Redskins team after initially having been with the Indianapolis Colts.  In college he had played for four years and won a national championship at Alabama after having been a top prospect following his high school football days.

Notable guest quotes:

“I grew up in Jefferson City, Missouri, awesome town, right in the capital of Missouri, a really, really fun place to grow up.  My family was a big family.  My dad was Catholic.  My mom was a convert to Catholicism.  And I have three sisters, one who’s older and two who are younger.”

“I went to Immaculate Conception grade school, which is in Jefferson City.  It’s kindergarten through eighth grade… Great teachers, great faith formation, and they really did a good job of helping me understand the building blocks of the Catholic faith and helping me grow in the faith from a young age.  And I think the world needs more Catholic schools and that was a real gem in my development.”

“I went to Helias Catholic (high school), which is in Jefferson City… Another great opportunity to grow in my faith, and more great teachers and priests and people who really helped me grow in the faith.”

“I think another extremely big part (of choosing Alabama) was just talking to my dad.  I mean, we spent a lot of time on the road driving to different (colleges)… He was almost like a spiritual advisor for me…  Along with prayer I think that ultimately made me come to a decision that was extremely easy and clear at the end of it.”

“Head Coach Nick Saban… I was so fortunate and blessed to play for him, not just because he’s a great coach but because he is a strong Catholic man.”

“I wasn’t sure if I was good enough or big enough or fast enough to play in the NFL and it took a big leap of faith to just tell myself and, through a lot of prayer was, with God, and just trying to look for that validation that I am good enough to give the NFL a fair and honest chance and I should, if God has put this in my heart, I really should explore it to the best of my ability and give it my best shot.”

“I just thank God every day that that young kid didn’t give up and that God gave me the strength to persevere and pursue this goal.”

“I think God gives us those opportunities to overcome and lean on Him and trust in Him.”

“If you have an injury… that forces you to miss time, my best advice would be to just pray to Him, just go to Him and ask, ‘God, I don’t know what you’re doing, but I trust in Your plan and Your plan is better than mine.  Let Your will be done, not mine’.”

“God has given me this talent and ability and all of the glory goes back to Him… I obviously have to train and do all those things, but God gives me the desire to train, He gave me the ability to train, this body that He’s given me – all these things are His.”

“At the end of the day, it’s still just a game.  It’s not heaven.  It’s not the end goal.  It’s not everything you’ve ever dreamed of, because everything we ever should be dreaming of is eternal life with God.”

“The only thing that can fully satisfy you is a relationship with Jesus.”

Related link:

Hale’s official website

(This episode contains a prayer by Fr. Brian Cavanaugh, T.O.R., as seen in Play Like A Champion Today’s prayerbook for sports, God, Be In My Sport)

Tomas Cerdeiras

An assistant coach for Belmont Abbey College’s men’s track and field. As a student-athlete there he became the school’s record-holder in the decathlon and earned All Region honors. He has also coached an NCAA DII All-American in heptathlon as well as a male and female freshman athlete of the year for their respective conferences.  Growing up he had competed in football, baseball, and basketball.

Notable guest quotes:

“When they had to leave (Cuba) because of the whole (Fidel) Castro thing, the one thing that they were able to take — you know, they lost everything, their farm, their families, and all that — but the one thing they were able to take when they moved here was their religion… My dad made it a thing to pass that down to us and to kind of share the importance of our religion, Jesus Christ.”

“Growing up it was rosaries every night, daily Mass, Mass on Sundays.”

“Homeschool was really, for me, what I remember, is reading a bunch of saint books… It kind of really helped me… growing in my faith.”

“My dad basically said, like, ‘Son, I don’t care where you go.  Just make sure it’s a good Catholic school, and we’ll worry about the money later’.”

“My dad, at the time, wasn’t sure how he was going to send… us to a private, liberal arts, Catholic school in North Carolina… He started to say a nine-day novena to St. Joseph… and on the last day of the novena we got a check for a large sum of money and all it said on the check was, ‘This is for Tomas’s education’.”

“I think I owe a lot of my spiritual life to a particular monk that I would go to for spiritual direction.”

“I was reading a lot into St. Padre Pio and all of his miracles and his relationship with God.”

“We go through valleys and mountains… But every time you get out of the valley, God gives you the gifts to kind of make you stronger and get you ready for heaven ultimately.”

“It was really just God saying, like, ‘This is the woman for you.’  And we would go to the chapel together and pray all the time.  And it was really a blessing.  And now we’re married.  We just bought our first house and God’s really blessed me with Julia and our marriage.”

“I was working at a secular school for a year and really what I was missing when I was working there was the religious aspect, ya’ know, being part of a Catholic school where I can preach about Jesus Christ.”

“One of my student-athletes, after talking to her… eventually she decided to convert to Catholicism and I was her godfather.”

Related link:

Belmont Abbey College Men’s Track & Field

(This episode contains a prayer from the National Catholic Coaches Association’s “The Leadership Papers,” although originally credited in there to The Coach’s Bible.)

Sean Mock

The Director of Player Development and Recruiting Coordinator for the Tulane University men’s basketball team, a position that he took approximately a year-and-a-half ago after having been special assistant to the head coach at Georgia State. Before that he served as an assistant coach at Henderson State, which came after a two-year stint at Northwood University where he finished up as associate head coach. He has also been Director of Basketball Operations at Miami University in Ohio, where he had played for four years.

Notable guest quotes:

“I’ve been blessed in the sense that I don’t feel like I’ve ever really had to work a real job in my life.  Basketball has always been a big part of what I do, and it’s been able to provide for me and my family for a while now.”

“I was born Catholic, cradle Catholic, both (of) my parents are still together, and they were both Catholics and raised Catholic, so, being Catholic has been a huge part of my life and my faith.  I have a younger brother and a younger sister who remain active in the faith as well.  And I’ve just been very lucky to have that as the root and the foundation of who I am.”

“I think the biggest thing for me was that my faith — and even as I’ve kind of moved around — my faith has always been the foundation.  I always say it’s the one thing in life that is your constant… It’s the one thing that can never be taken away from you.”

“No matter how tough life gets, no matter how frustrating things may be, your faith and God is always what’s going to be there for you.  And that’s the part that always I’ve been able to go back to.  And to be honest with you, I don’t know how I could’ve done or gotten or dealt with many things without that faith.”

“Basketball is not who I am, at all.  It’s what I do.”

“God really doesn’t care whether you win or you lose.  Now, He wants you to give your best effort and do the best, ya’ know, use your gifts as He’s given you.  But that’s not who you are.  It’s what you do and it’s how you use His gifts that matter.”

“What I’ve always enjoyed about the Catholic Mass is the consistency of it.  How everywhere you go it’s the same.  I know that when I go to Mass in New Orleans, Louisiana, my parents that are near Cincinnati, Ohio, they’re going to that same Mass, they’re hearing the same readings.  And to me that’s always been something that’s very comforting.”

“In any part of life, God puts people in front of you at any given moment at any different time and it’s your job to be His hands on earth.  And it’s your job to do His work.  Somebody once told me that you may, as a person, you may be the only Bible somebody ever reads.  So, you have to be ready; when that time comes, you have to be ready.”

“I know God has always taken care of me and He always will.”

“I think that that journey, you gotta trust God and, just, with open arms just follow Him and realize, you know what, it’s in my control but ultimately it really isn’t in my control.”

Related link:

Sean’s Tulane University bio

(This episode contains a prayer from the National Catholic Coaches Association’s “The Leadership Papers,” although originally credited in there to The Coach’s Bible.)

Patrick Novecosky

He played baseball in elementary school, soccer in high school, and now in his adult life is an avid marathoner, including having participated in events from southern California to New York City to Naples, Florida, and even Rome, Italy. Meanwhile, he wrote a book called, 100 Ways John Paul II Changed the World, and has won more than two dozen awards from the Catholic Press Association. He met Pope St. John Paul II five times!  He also talks here about having gone five times to the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City.

Notable guest quotes:

“My dad had had two goals in life.  One was to be married for 50 years, which he accomplished, and have a large family and raise them in the faith, which he did… His pride and joy was knowing that he raised his family … to know Jesus and to love their Catholic faith.”

“The faith… was the base that I grew up with and when times got tough, I turned to God and the church and never looked back.”

“As human beings we’re a body and spirit, so we need to feed both of them and some of the lessons I learned in sports, both in baseball and in soccer, have stayed with me.”

“When I get to heaven… I’ll just be overwhelmed by God himself and the heavenly hosts and all that.”

“Basically, my whole career as a journalist, as an editor, as a publicist, has been in the Catholic faith.  So, God had this plan for me, that I never could have foreseen to be working in His church for my entire life.”

“And my boss said, ‘Would you like to meet the Pope?’  And I said, ‘Do you need to ask?! If there’s a list, just put me on it, please.’  And they put me on the list and on October 1st, 1997, I met John Paul II for the first time.”

“I’m just a farm kid from Saskatchewan, I’m speaking to the greatest Pope in a thousand years and he’s listening to me.  Incredibly humble.  I felt very humble to have that opportunity…  Not only that, I got to attend his Mass, in his private chapel, in the Papal apartments, across the hall from his bedroom, his study where he did all of his great work.  In his private chapel where he prayed and did some of his greatest work.  And it was one of the greatest days of my life.”

“I do find (Pope St. John Paul II) as – because I met him so many times – as one of my personal patrons.  So absolutely, I pray for his intercession pretty regularly.”

“When I was a teenager, I made a pledge to ride my bicycle across Canada – five thousand miles – to raise awareness for Pro-Life issues.  My parents vetoed that idea, but I publicly said that I would do this and made the commitment to do this as a 16-year old Canadian kid. So, Pro-Life has been one of my passions.”

Related link:

Patrick’s book – 100 Ways John Paul II Changed the World

(This episode contains a prayer originally excerpted and adapted from Day By Day: The Notre Dame Prayerbook for Students by Thomas McNally, as seen in Play Like A Champion Today’s prayerbook for sports, God, Be In My Sport)

Bas Rutten

A UFC Heavyweight Champion and three-time King of Pancrase world champion, he finished his career on a 22-fight unbeaten streak (21 wins, 1 draw). He has been inducted to the UFC Hall of Fame and has appeared in movies and on TV shows. He is a retired mixed martial artist, karate and taekwondo black belt, and Muay Thai kickboxer.

Notable guest quotes:

“I was the ‘leper’ in school, something I, of course, hated at the time, but now I kind of embrace it because isn’t in the Bible the word, right, leper?”

“A woman, something happened, boom, I’m in, ya’ know. I always felt the need to take care of the problem because now it was my gift, I thought.”

“I think (God) waited. He waited for the right moment… He also gave me a whole bunch of injuries, to make me retire, which was something I hated at the time but now I’m embracing it.”

“Everybody in hell is proud.”

“I’m very happy now that everything was done the way it was done and I truly believe that when I was ten years old there was a little seed planted in my head by the Lord.”

“And then a whole St. Thérèse thing starts happening… Everything started flowing together. It was just really weird, and, but really cool.”

“Slowly but surely I started doing everything in Latin.  I think it’s a little bit deeper for me.  I also like Latin Mass a lot.”

“I always wanted to say… ‘Hey, for all the people who do this, this, and this, read Revelation 3:16.’  This is where Jesus talks about the lukewarm, that he will [spit you] out of [my] mouth… They’re in the middle, who do just the minimum amount to get passed by.  He’s not really happy with those people.”

“I need at least an hour-and-a-half in the morning for my prayers and my meditation and for everything that I do, the daily readings, and I go into the reflection, I go really deep, the divine intimacy, I do a lot.”

“Doing a small good thing is still doing good.  Doing a small evil thing is still doing evil.  It doesn’t matter what measure it is.  Evil is evil, good is good.  So, try to always do something good, and not evil.”

Related link:

Bas Rutten’s website

(This episode contains a prayer seen in Play Like A Champion Today’s prayerbook for sports, God, Be In My Sport)

Toby Cook

He is in his 14th full season with Major League Baseball’s Kansas City Royals, serving as the team’s Vice President of Publicity after having previously been their Vice President of Community Affairs & Publicity. It is baseball that he credits with leading him to the Catholic church, which he officially became a part of twelve years ago. He shares that story – and more – during this conversation.

Notable guest quotes:

“I grew up in a loving household with my parents… and I’m the fourth of four (children).”

“I was a television anchor and reporter for 15 years.  I started off at a small radio station… I actually sat there in the control room and ran the board… at a radio station for Royals baseball games, which is really funny how that all came about.”

“In a small town in southeast Kansas, there was very little hostility with Roman Catholics.”

“I really do believe… all of this was a part of my eventual coming into the Catholic Church.  This was my seeking.  This was my searching.  This was my – to use a great phrase – discernment.  And I didn’t know it at the time.”

“I finally confirmed that call to fatherhood as a part of my Catholic conversion and a look at the vocation of marriage.”

“I’m convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that I finally got to go to work for the Royals after all these years because I was supposed to become Catholic.”

“Mike (Sweeney) arranged for the local bishop to come and say Mass at the stadium.”

“I’m very grateful that my Catholic faith has enlightened basically everything I do (at the Royals).”

“I think that there is a lesson to be learned when it comes to sports and how we can apply some of the disciplines and practices of sports to our faith.”

“What my Catholic faith has taught me is that it’s not about me and that I can let go and let God in so many ways.”

“It’s been miraculous to me that I’ve been able to see my Catholic faith and my work in baseball become more and more seamless as I’ve gone on.  Hopefully because I’m listening to the promptings of the Holy Spirit.”

Related link:

Toby’s mlb.com (Royals) bio page

(This episode contains a prayer attributed to legendary Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne, as seen in Play Like A Champion Today’s prayerbook for sports, God, Be In My Sport)

Fr Michael Lightner

He is an administrator of three churches in northeast Wisconsin. In his college days he was an offensive lineman, playing football at the University of Eastern Michigan, where he had earned a scholarship after having played football in high school. He was invited to try out with the NFL’s Cleveland Browns and later would be inducted into the Sports Faith International Hall of Fame.

Notable guest quotes:

“I was the youngest of six living children, eleven all together, my mom had some miscarriages and so I have brothers and sisters in the Kingdom already.”

“Anybody ever asked me what I was going to do from… when I was eight years old and on up, they asked me and I’d say, ‘I’m going to play professional football’.”

“(Football) was the thing.  It was, ya’ know, it was a rivalry to God for sure.  And probably a false god in my life.”

“I work with high school kids, I do football camps and things like that to help kids understand (that) the power of being a team is very, very important.”

“My mom was a big proponent of Fatima and Lourdes.  She loved the Blessed Mother.  She loved to pray the rosary.”

“For the first time in my life God presented Himself in a way that I knew it could only be Him.”

“My godfather, who is a priest who… was there at my baptism, he wrote me three letters and he predicted the priesthood for me, and I didn’t receive these until I committed to it and it shocked me.”

“The miracles of the gospels, they’re right there for us.  God is real.  God is present.  And if we have the courage to ask Him to open our eyes, we’ll be able to see.”

“My favorite in all of scripture is John 4:20, and it’s the woman at the well.”

“God is looking out for his people.  But we have to go to Him.  We have to ask for what He wants us to receive.  We have to open our hearts, and if we know that, then we’re doing our job.”

Related link:

YouTube channel mentioned by Fr. Michael